All of Sierra Leone’s eight registered political parties have signed an “Open and Safe Elections Pledge” to promote an electoral atmosphere free of violence and intimidation and to encourage women to participate in the election process. The country is slated to have presidential, parliamentary and local elections on Nov. 17.

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL) delivered the keynote address at a March 22 luncheon honoring the Women’s Discussion Club of Kyrgyzstan, the 2012 recipient of the Madeleine K. Albright Grant awarded by NDI.

In her address, Wasserman Schultz challenged women to take the lead. “Too often, women don’t speak up,” Wasserman Schultz said. “But women's voices are crucial to democracy.”

When the Kosovar government released its ambassadorial nominations last fall, there was a glaring omission — no women were on the list. A group of women members of parliament (MPs) protested at a news conference, which led the government to increase the number of women nominees to one-third.

But when the national television station reported on the press conference, it played traditional wedding music over what the women were saying, making it look more like a party and distracting from the serious message the women MPs were trying to get across.